Law Commons^™

Lawrence V. Texas: An Historic Human Rights Victory, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

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The Lawrence decision is one of the most momentous pro-individual rights decisions ever adjudicated by the Court, and joins the exalted ranks of the Court's other benchmark decisions advancing human rights, including Brown v. Board of Education (the 1964 school desegregation decision), Roe v. Wade (the 1973 abortion rights decision), and West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (the 1943 decision upholding the right of Jehovah's Witnesses schoolchildren to refuse to salute the flag).

Opening Statement -- Making It Stick, Ronald L. Carlson, Michael S. Carlson

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Every lawyer who sits down to plan her opening remarks for a coming trial has the same question: How far can I go in arguing my case during the opening statement? Can I mention the law? What about drawing a diagram of the accident on a blackboard? Will my opponent be able to stop me from displaying a couple of my dramatic exhibits to the jury?

Making one's theory of the case "stick" from the very start of the trial depends mightly on how far the lawyer can go in opening statement. Where the defense is primarily a legal or …

Explosive Dynamic Entry: The Increasing Militarization Of The Police Makes Citizens Into Enemies, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

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At 6 a.m. on Friday, May 16, 2003, 57-year old Alberta Spruill was in her residence, Apartment 6F at 310 W. 143rd Street in the Harlem Section of New York City, preparing to leave for work. Spruill, a quiet, church-going woman, was a municipal worker, employed at the Division of Citywide Administrative Services. She had been a city employee for 29 years, and each weekday would take the bus to her job. To her, that Friday morning must have seemed like the beginning of just another ordinary day. She mercifully did not know that she would never again head for …

A Little Bit Of Shooty Face, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

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The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed government sources, recently revealed that American intelligence agents and law enforcement officials stationed in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay have been authorized to use “a little bit of smacky face” to make prisoners talk during interrogation. “If you don’t violate someone’s human rights some of the time, you probably aren’t doing your duty,” one anonymous U. S. official was quoted as saying. Americans were assured, however, that the face-slapping of prisoners to induce them to talk was nothing to worry about. There would be no revival of the third degree for persons arrested on …

Daubert & Danger: The "Fit" Of Expert Predictions In Civil Commitments, Alexander W. Scherr

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Never make predictions, especially about the future. But in civil commitments, courts predict future behavior all the time. Judicial action here has severe results for the individual: deprivation of liberty, potentially unwanted and intrusive treatment, and the stigma of mental illness. Judicial inaction can also do harm: erroneous release can lead to injury of the person or others. Resolving these risks requires courts to find the person poses a danger to him/herself or others because of a mental illness.

Embarrassing Justice, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

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The text of the speech given by UGA Professor of Law Donald E. Wilkes, in the Tate Student Center Plaza at the University of Georgia, May 17, 2003 to protest U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas's speech at the law school graduation.

Open Letter Concerning The Invitation To Justice Clarence Thomas To Speak At The Uga School Of Law Graduation Ceremony, Donald E. Wilkes Jr.

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Dear Colleagues, Law Students, and Other Members of the Law School Community:

On Monday, November 25, 2002, the law faculty of the University of Georgia School of Law received a memorandum from Dean David Shipley which begins as follows: "I am pleased to announce that Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted the invitation extended by me, Class of 2003 President Josh Belinfante, Class of 2003 Vice President Megan Jones, and Class of 2004 Vice President Rebecca Franklin to be our graduation speaker on May 17, 2003."

The decision to invite Justice Thomas is appalling, unwise and perverse -- the embodiment of …

Who Owns The Rules Of War? The War In Iraq Demands A Rethinking Of The International Rules Of Conduct, Kenneth Anderson

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The war in Iraq requires a rethinking of the rules of conduct in war, international humanitarian law. The nature of asymmetric warfare in the conflict has turned out to be less a question of technological disparities than the weaker side turning to systematic violations of the laws of war as its method. Over time, we risk creating an international system in which it is tacitly assumed and permitted that the weaker side fight using systematic violations of the law as its method. Part of this trend arises from the biases of 1977 Protocol I which blessed activities of irregular forces …

Annan Leaves Door Open For U.S. Action, Alan J. Meese

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